Ere we go, ere weg....

"Go on", they said, "Go and review the Amazing Alex at the Love boat in Protaras. Try not to get hypnotized, OK?"

With these concise instructions in mind, I slipped off down to the busy Protaras venue to see what was what. Alex is not the only comedy hypnotist in town, and as a recent addition to the pub entertainment scene I was curious to see what he had to offer the pub-going public.

I was in grave doubt as to how well this thing was going to go in World Cup season in a busy pub - but Alex seemed to be undaunted by the challenge and volunteers were not too hard to find.

After a brief selection process (which I manfully resisted) things got under way.

In point of fact you cannot be bullied or tricked into cooperating as the initial induction needs cooperation from the volunteer - so shrinking violets need not feel stressed out at dropping by to see the act. You cannot be "zapped" into joining in!

The gig ran for about an hour and twenty minutes with a minimum of chatter from the man and plenty of action from the volunteers on the small, central stage. Without going into a blow by blow (if you want fine detail - visit the pub or buy the DVD) the act is made up of a number of sketches, some merely amusing but others very funny.

To highlight a couple of points, it was a real laugh to watch people trying to blow out what they fondly believed were their winning lottery tickets that Alex had set alight (poor things - but I'm sorry it was very funny to watch), a group of guys looking really serious whilst imitating the movements of a rag doll as it was bounced around the stage and even the mating dance of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (horny little devil, I really had no idea).

Perhaps the highlight for me was the whole group of volunteers marching around the pub protesting that all hypnotism was fakery and the act was a fraud….until the music played and they all turned into the crazy frog.

Top billing was given to the sexy vibrating chair, not so much a piece of furniture, more like Viagra on steroids. Now this involved no nudity at all - but it did cross my mind that there were kids in the pub and this bit of the act was decidedly naughty. Amazing to behold but naughty none the less.

On reflection, though, it has to be pointed out that if you take your kids to a pub at midnight, do you really expect the floorshow to be selections from Walt Disneys "The Lion King" and a freebie Fanta Orange?

Not on this planet I'm afraid.

So, the final word.

Overall, I liked the act. It made me laugh like hell and it kept the rest of the punters very happy.

Plus it was a major eye opener for me as its remarkable to see what people will actually do under hypnosis especially as - unlike TV hypnotists shows - I know the pub and there is no way that it was a fix.

If you don't believe me - go along and volunteer

Otherwise - just go and watch. :-)

A brief aside.....

Because Alex is closely associated with ECy, I was deputised to review his act as an independent source, rather than using the usual covert sources for ECy reviews.
As a comparison, the "usual covert sources" were packed off to the Square Pub where JC Comedy Hypnotist was working, or not working it transpired.
He could not get anyone hypnotised, they tell me.